Future Dreaming: Inside the 2025 Minneapolis Music Summit

Minneapolis has always punched above its weight musically—from Prince’s purple reign and our storied First Avenue stage to the globally respected jazz, hip‑hop, classical, indie, and experimental scenes that pack local calendars today. At the Minneapolis Music Summit (May 10, 2025) hundreds of artists, venue owners, educators, technologists, and policymakers gathered at Uptown’s Green Room to ask one urgent question: How do we take the next leap and become a national — if not global — epicenter for music and the arts?

I was on the closing panel titled “Future dreaming – What do we want to build?” Other panelists included David Safar, Managing Director of Music Services at American Public Media and Minnesota Public Radio, Chadwick “Niles” Phillips, Founder and CEO of The Avant Garde, Dr. Christopher Rochester, Director of the Global Music Initiative at MacPhail Center for Music. We were moderated by the Peabody-winning journalist Katie Thornton.

Here’s a small handful of takeaways from the event that are just seeds of ideas that can grow into major initiatives that will have economic, social, and artistic impact for years to come.

1. Invest in musicians and artists. Investing in artists isn’t charity—it’s a high-yield local stimulus. Every dollar circulates through studios, venues, and neighborhood cafés, sustaining creative-sector jobs and turning our cultural identity into measurable economic growth.
2. Make space. Designated music and entertainment districts act like cultural enterprise zones. Venues, studios, and late-night businesses keep foot traffic (and tax revenue) humming long after the workday ends. By concentrating live-music venues, streamlined permitting, and sound-mitigation support in strategic corridors, Minneapolis can turn under-utilized blocks into 24-hour economic engines.
3. Train and educate. Behind every great performing arts organization is a backstage workforce—sound engineers, video producers, lighting techs, stage managers, marketers, artist managers—whose skills help ensure a great fan experience. By funding paid apprenticeships, certification courses, and on-the-job training for these non-musician roles, Minneapolis can build a pipeline of local talent that keeps our stages lit, our gigs running on time, and our creative economy firing on all cylinders.
4. Lean into tech. Minneapolis already has a world-class performing arts community and globally-renown tech companies. By investing in entrepreneurs and companies that thrive at the intersection of tech and performing arts, Minneapolis can become a leader in music innovation.

And thanks to a nod from David Safar who reminded the crowd that that Pennant is right here in the Twin Cities with a drive to solve deep problems in public media and performing arts, starting right here in our own backyard! We’re already looking forward to the 2026 Minneapolis Music Summit.